The US House of Representatives bill, which provides US$2.5 trillion in stimulus and assistance to the US economy in the face of the coronavirus outbreak, would award US$37 billion in grants to airlines and US$3 billion in grants to employees of ground-support and catering contractors.
Airlines could also receive US$21 billion in loans that would be at 0% financing for the first year.
Republicans and Democrats were still struggling on Monday to reach agreement on a far-reaching coronavirus stimulus package, including the airline aid, after failing to reach a deal over the weekend.
Republicans have opposed providing bailouts to the passenger and cargo carriers, proposing help in the form of US$58 billion in loans and saying the government could demand stock, options or other equity as part of those loans.
The House bill would also set aside US$1 billion to eliminate high-polluting airplanes.
It would cap chief executive pay at no more than 50 times the median pay of employees and bar stock buybacks.
It would also require that “no additional aircraft heavy maintenance work is outsourced to repair stations abroad” and require airlines to have a labour union-designated director.
Airlines would have to maintain “at least US$15 minimum wage for all employees or contracted workers.”
Airlines receiving assistance would need to fully offset their carbon emissions starting in 2025 and reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2050.
They would also be required to tell customers the amount of carbon emissions attributed to their flights.
Airlines made a plea over the weekend that US$29 billion of US$58 billion sought in assistance be in the form of cash grants.
In return, they offered to make no job cuts through Aug 31 and to accept curbs on executive pay and forgo paying dividends or stock buybacks.
Airlines including United Airlines Holdings Inc have also said they are encouraging employees to apply for voluntary unpaid leaves of absence among other measures aimed at saving costs.
Globally, the number of scheduled flights last week was down more than 12% from a year ago, flight data provider OAG said, and many airlines have announced further cuts to come as demand continues to drop.
Southwest Airlines Co became the latest US airline to slash its capacity by about 25% on Sunday, bringing forward and increasing cancellations that were initially due to run between April 14 and June 5.
The cancellations include the suspension of all international flying until May 4, it said.